Bethel reinvents itself, beats Hampton 17-13

There's no way anyone could have seen it coming. Not unless they have the most vivid imagination or are somehow affiliated with Bethel's football team.

Eight days following a 51-point loss to Lake Taylor, Bethel bounced back for a 17-13 stunner over Hampton on Friday night at Darling Stadium. The Bruins took a 17-0 lead with 7:28 left in the third quarter and held on for what could turn out to be a season-changing win.

"We just wanted to bounce back," Bruins quarterback Trey Jackson said. "We don't want to be a losing team. We just want to prove everybody wrong."

Bethel (2-1, 2-0 Peninsula District) did that. Made an 18-point underdog by this newspaper, the Bruins looked to be in charge all night. And they did it by completely reinventing their offense, which totaled only 69 yards in last week's loss to the Titans.

This week, Bethel effectively mixed the run and the pass. Tailback Jihad Hudson rushed for 95 tough yards on 20 carries. Jackson, who was 5-of-14 for 85 yards the first two weeks, hit on 8-of-12 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.

"I have to be honest with you: Last week, I kind of got intimidated by all those guys in the box," Bruins offensive coordinator Ron Johnson said. "This week, I went back to my roots after talking with Coach (Bill) Dee. The kids responded. We just had a positive game."

Bethel's defense also had something of a transformation. Last week, Lake Taylor had 460 total yards, 372 on the ground. The Crabbers finished 303, 125 of which came on their two touchdowns.

"They have weapons all over the field," Bethel defensive coordinator Bernie West said. "We told our kids to play their base responsibility and have good technique. We emphasized being physical and eliminating mental mistakes."

When Jackson found Antonio Killebrew in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown with 7:28 to go in the third, Bethel led 17-0 and the words "upset alert" were flashing all over. But it took the Crabbers only 2 minutes and 53 seconds to score twice — first on Trevor Arneaud's 83-yard catch-and-run down the right sideline, and then on Deon Newsome's 42-yard pass to Jovonn Quillen.

So Hampton began the fourth quarter with momentum. Yet Bethel responded with a textbook offensive drive that resulted in no points but managed to eat 8:41 off the clock.

Bethel moved from its 15-yard line to the Hampton 13 by converting three third downs. One came on a pass interference penalty; another came on Jackson's 26-yard completion to Jesse Williams.

"That's what we needed," Jackson said. The D was doing it for us, so we knew we had to keep running and get first downs."